PLENTY OF BAIT FOR FLATTIES
HI everyone, hope you are all having a nice week. It was fantastic to see a much nicer week on the Gold and Tweed coasts after the strong winds, big swell and rain battered us late last week. We have been lucky enough to see a return to sunshine and much lighter winds making conditions a lot more pleasant for everyone to get on the water and have some fun.
Just remember if you are thinking about heading offshore once the swell eases just keep in mind that as of July 15 snapper and pearl perch are on the no-take list in Queensland waters: https:// www.daf.qld.gov.au/businesspriorities/fisheries/ recreational/recreationalfishing-rules/closed-seasonswaters/tidal-waters Let’s have a look at a few options for the weekend ahead.
Given the recent weather conditions chasing flathead has been a great option. The cooler water temperatures combined with plenty of bait in the system has seen some great flathead fishing on offer. Solid numbers of fish are on offer if you can find a good area to target with some fishos landing 40-plus fish in a session with a mixture of sizes from small up to 80cm.
If you are lucky enough to manage to catch and release a large flathead this will be a big breeding female fish. These larger fish will tend to attract good numbers of smaller male fish usually around the 40 to 55cm range which are great fun to catch and also a good sized to keep for a feed. If you are finding good numbers of smaller fish, this also means you are in with a good chance of landing that prized trophy monster flathead for a photo before releasing her back to the water.
When organising a trip it pays to work around the tides and come up with a plan that will give you the best chance. The run out tide will give you the best chance of finding fish. As the tide goes out and the sandbanks start to show, this gives you a much smaller area to target and find where the fish are concentrated. When fishing the rising tide you may have to search around as the fish have a lot more area to hide and will make their way into very shallow areas around islands and sandbanks as well as sit in deeper holes in search of bait fish swimming past.
It pays to have a few different options when it comes to tackle. Trolling hard body lures works well and is a great way to cover larger areas when searching for fish in water depths of up to 2m. Once you locate numbers of fish, throwing soft plastics around the 3 to 4 inch size of either 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jig heads or smaller soft vibe lures are a great way to target an area by fanning out your casts and hitting as much of an area as possible.
When it comes to deep water it’s a pretty similar approach, but you will be using a slightly heavier gear and upping the size of your plastics to 5 to 7 inch and jig heads accordingly anywhere up to 1 to 1.5 ounces depending on current. Also, big soft vibes tea bagged in deep water are irritable to a hungry flathead. Keep in mind when trolling or casting that flathead will normally sit head into the current and lay in wait for a bait fish or prawn to swim past for an easy feed so trolling or casting with the flow of water is important.
If Flathead have to turn and chase a lure they will quite often miss the lure resulting in not hooking up and normally a scuffed trace line but no fish. Drifting baits is another great way to target fish if you’re not into lures.